Innovation, quality and exports: The case of Italian SMEs

We test the hypothesis that innovating and targeting the upper-quality segment of markets increases Italian small and medium enterprises probability to export, providing empirical evidence that supports it. We observed a positive-quality effect and a strong impact of non-technological innovations over future exports. We also observed that larger and older firms operating in traditional sectors are more likely to export. The most interesting results came from the introduction of interaction terms. We found evidence of a 'super-additive effects', which delineate synergic linkages between product innovation activities and quality strategy. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.